Karasik BS, Zorin MA, Milostnaya II, Elantev AI, Gol’tsman GN, Gershenzon EM. Evidence of subnanosecond transition stage in S-N current switching of YBaCuO films. In: Buhrman RA, Clarke JT, Daly K, Koch RH, Luine JA, Simon RW, editors. Proc. SPIE. Vol 2160. SPIE; 1994. p. 74–82.
Abstract: We report on a study of S-N and N-S current switching in high quality YBaCuO films deposited onto ZrO2 and NdGaO3 substrates. The films 60-120 nm thick prepared by laser ablation were structured into single strips and were provided with gold contacts. We monitored the time dependence of the resistance upon application of the voltage step on the film. Experiment performed within certain ranges of voltage amplitudes and temperatures showed the occurrence of the fast stage both in S-N (shorter than 300 ps) and N-S transition. We discuss the mechanism of switching taking into account the hot electron phenomena in YBaCuO. The contributions of various thermal processes in the subsequent stage of the resistance dynamic are also discussed. The basic limiting characteristics (average dissipated power, minimum work done for switching, maximum repetition rate) of a picosecond switch which is proposed to be developed are estimated.
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Gol'tsman GN, Vachtomin YB, Antipov SV, Finkel MI, Maslennikov SN, Smirnov KV, et al. NbN phonon-cooled hot-electron bolometer mixer for terahertz heterodyne receivers. In: Proc. SPIE. Vol 5727.; 2005. p. 95–106.
Abstract: We present the results of our studies of NbN phonon-cooled HEB mixers at terahertz frequencies. The mixers were fabricated from NbN film deposited on a high-resistivity Si substrate with an MgO buffer layer. The mixer element was integrated with a log-periodic spiral antenna. The noise temperature measurements were performed at 2.5 THz and at 3.8 THz local oscillator frequencies for the 3 x 0.2 μm2 active area devices. The best uncorrected receiver noise temperatures found for these frequencies are 1300 K and 3100 K, respectively. A water vapour discharge laser was used as the LO source. The largest gain bandwidth of 5.2 GHz was achieved for a mixer based on 2 nm thick NbN film deposited on MgO layer over Si substrate. The gain bandwidth of the mixer based on 3.5 nm NbN film deposited on Si with MgO is 4.2 GHz and the noise bandwidth for the same device amounts to 5 GHz. We also present the results of our research into decrease of the direct detection contribution to the measured Y-factor and a possible error of noise temperature calculation. The use of a square nickel cell mesh as an IR-filter enabled us to avoid the effect of direct detection and measure apparent value of the noise temperature which was 16% less than that obtained using conventional black polyethylene IR-filter.
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Yngvesson KS, Gerecht E, Musante CF, Zhuang Y, Ji M, Goyette TM, et al. Low-noise HEB heterodyne receivers and focal plane arrays for the THz regime using NbN. In: Hwu RJ, Wu K, editors. Proc. SPIE. Vol 3795. SPIE; 1999. p. 357–68.
Abstract: We have developed prototype HEB receivers using thin film superconducting NbN devices deposited on silicon substrates. The devices are quasi-optically coupled through a silicon lens and a self-complementary log-specific toothed antenna. We measured DSB receiver noise temperatures of 500 K (13 X hf/2k) at 1.56 THz and 1,100 K (20 X hf/2k) at 2.24 THz. Noise temperatures are expected to fall further as devices and quasi-optical coupling methods are being optimized. The measured 3 dB IF conversion gain bandwidth for one device was 3 GHz, and it is estimated that the bandwidth over which the receiver noise temperature is within 3 dB of its minimum value is 6.5 GHz which is sufficient for a number of practical applications. We will discuss our latest results and give a detailed description of our prototype setup and experiments. We will also discuss our plans for developing focal plane arrays with tens of Hot Electron Bolometric mixer elements on a single silicon substrate which will make real time imaging systems in the THz region feasible.
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Zhang W, Li N, Jiang L, Ren Y, Yao Q-J, Lin Z-H, et al. Dependence of noise temperature of quasi-optical superconducting hot-electron bolometer mixers on bath temperature and optical-axis displacement. In: Zhang C, Zhang X-C, editors. Proc. SPIE. Vol 6840. Spie; 2008. 684007 (1 to 8).
Abstract: It is known that the increase of bath temperature results in the decrease of critical current of superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers owing to the depression of superconductivity, thus leading to the degradation of the mixer’s sensitivity. Here we report our study on the effect of bath temperature on the heterodyne mixing performance of quasi-optical superconducting NbN HEB mixers incorporated with a two-arm log-spiral antenna. The correlation between the bath temperature, critical current, LO power requirement and noise temperature is investigated at 0.5 THz. Furthermore, the heterodyne mixing performance of quasi-optical superconducting NbN HEB mixers is examined while there is an optical-axis displacement between the center of the extended hemispherical silicon lens and the superconducting NbN HEB device, which is placed on the back of the lens. Detailed experimental results and analysis are presented.
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Ryabchun S, Tong C-yu E, Blundell R, Kimberk R, Gol’tsman G. Effect of microwave radiation on the stability of terahertz hot-electron bolometer mixers. In: Anwar M, DeMaria AJ, Shur MS, editors. Proc. SPIE. Vol 6373. SPIE; 2006. 63730J (1 to 5).
Abstract: We report our studies of the effect of microwave radiation, with a frequency much lower than that corresponding to the energy gap of the superconductor, on the performance of the NbN hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixer incorporated into a THz heterodyne receiver. It is shown that exposing the HEB mixer to microwave radiation does not result in a significant rise of the receiver noise temperature and degradation of the mixer conversion gain so long as the level of microwave power is small compared to the local oscillator drive. Hence the injection of a small, but controlled amount of microwave radiation enables active compensation of local oscillator power and coupling fluctuations which can significantly degrade the stability of HEB mixer receivers.
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